subject: Netjets expands its fleet with 300 more private jets [print this page] Netjets expands its fleet with 300 more private jets
On 18 October 2010, NetJets Inc. signed an agreement with Embraer to purchase up to 125 Platinum Edition Phenom 300 light jets. The deal includes 50 firm orders and 75 options. First delivery of the jets is expected in 2013.
Designed exclusively for NetJets, the Platinum Edition Phenom 300 will offer new technology and amenities based entirely on the specifications of the fractional share clients of NetJets. The agreement marks the first step in a fleet plan that will unfold over the next 10 years, providing the fractional Owners of the company with choices, service, and reliability based on their needs and preferences. In addition to the light cabin fleet, more orders will come over the next several years that extend the midsize and large cabin fleets, on top of already-signed orders for more than 1.8 billion worth of jets.
NetJets Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, enables companies and individuals to purchase shares of private business jets. Through fractional ownership, companies and individuals pay a fraction of the full price of a particular private jet. Availability of the aircraft is guaranteed with just 10 hours' notice, 365 days per year.
NetJets currently operates an 800-strong global fleet with 13 types of fractional aircraft from both domestic and foreign manufacturers. Its Dassault Falcon was named business jet of the year in 2009. Other aircraft manufacturers represented in the fleet include Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft, and Cessna. NetJets has taken delivery of over 600 aircraft since 2000.
NetJets is generally thought to have been a driving customer for the Hawker Beechcraft 450XP light jet. Hawker launched the project in 2008 but shelved it in 2009 due to its shrinking backlog in the aftermath of the global recession.
The NetJets order will be the launch of the Platinum Edition Phenom 300, and Embraer will develop the Phenom 300 in collaboration with NetJets. Research among its fractional owners of typical flight patterns and required services led NetJets to select the Phenom 300. To conduct its research, NetJets undertook a detailed analysis utilising several teams representing owner services, finance, flight crews, flight operations, maintenance, sales, and safety.
"NetJets is making an investment in the future, and we continue to be guided by our vision to maintain our leadership position by delivering extraordinary safety and service to our owners," says David Sokol, chairman and CEO of NetJets. "This is a high-performance aircraft that is ideally suited to our owners' needs for reliability, range, interior comfort and operating efficiency."
While working with NetJets to develop the Platinum Edition Phenom 300, Embraer states that it will also offer the new fleet complete support services encompassing a wide range of materials, logistics and maintenance services for the markets in both North America and Europe.
